24224: Kondrat (response) Re: 24226: loveayiti:(discuss) List of traffickers arrested (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Peter Kondrat <petekondrat@yahoo.com>

I notice a few interesting things in this anonymous
post, and I wonder about the propriety of circulating
such "information":

1. At least half the "Lavalas suspects" were detained
or deported *before* Lavalas lost power; therefore,
they were arrested or deported with the active
assistance of the Lavalas government, it would seem.

2. A few names have identifiers attached, but most
have no stated association with either the party or
the government. This seems like a classic
guilt-by-association trick. If you carefully read the
title of the post -- "List of Lavalas officials *and
other individuals* ..." -- you see more clearly what
kind of sleight-of-hand is going on.

3. "Allegedly" -- yes, perhaps. But if Haiti and
Haitians are to one day live under the rule of law,
then fundamental principles of fairness must be
cultivated. "Innocent until proven guilty" is one of
them. "Due process" is another.

4. I think you could put together a list of corrupt
associates of just about any government in power
anywhere in the world. The list of the Bush
Administration would make this look like a
kindergarten detention roster, for example. The Reagan
administration list of convicted felons is even
longer. And while none of them may have had to stoop
to trafficking in drugs, the misery their deeds
wrought on the poorest people in the world (Nicaragua,
for starters); the shame their deeds brought to their
nation; and the impunity with which they behaved both
before and after their actions came to light -- all
are far, far worse than anything that might have
happened in Port-au-Prince in the last dozen years.

The mudslinging at Lavalas reminds me in its mania of
the Clinton witch hunt of 1998. It seems that it is
just as much a disservice to citizens as well. Beware
of those who demonize.

Peter Kondrat